“Sugar is the body’s preferred source of fuel for brain power, muscle energy and every natural process that goes into proper functioning of our body cells,” the Indian Sugar Mills Association recently told Bloomberg.

However, there is always a but when talking about sugar. A sugar-heavy diet may increase the risk of several diseases like heart disease, diabetes, poor dental health, obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

“Sugar is not the only culprit. There are so many other factors, like lifestyle, an unhealthy diet and smoking, but there is a risk from sugar if it is consumed in large quantities,” Mery Harita, a medical practitioner in West Jakarta, said in an interview with The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

“As a doctor, I always advise my diabetic patients not to consume sugar. If they deliberately want sweetness, they can consume low-calorie sugar daily, but in small quantity.”

For normal or healthy people, there is nothing wrong with consuming sugar daily.

“Sugar is ubiquitous. It can be found in any food or drink. It has many names and shapes: glucose, honey, fructose, corn syrup, sucrose and many others. All these sugars are carbohydrates and essential for our body,” Sanjeevini Pertiwi, who studied biomedicine, told the Post.

The sugar we use in our homes, according to Mery, is rich in energy. It instantly increases sugar levels in our blood. Other forms of sugar will take some time to process after consumption in our bodies.

What kind of risks do we face when consuming sugar in large doses?

For example, if we consume a big amount of sugar, our body will convert some of it into energy and the rest into fat.

“The process of conversion of sugar into energy and fat is called lipogenesis,” Sanjeevini said.

So, the sugar intake our body does not need for energy goes straight to storage in the form of fat on our waistlines, which can lead to obesity. Everybody knows that obesity is the mother of several health problems.

The question, therefore, is how much sugar can we consume in a day in order to stay healthy.

“We can consume daily around 11 grams of sugar. This is recommended by many nutritionists. Because the sugar intake should not exceed more than 5 percent of daily total calorie intake,” Sanjeevini said.

The World Health Organization warns that a person should not consume more than 25 grams of sugar a day. Many people simply ignore WHO warnings and consume more than 25 grams. Of course, many people are also ignorant of the dangers of consuming more sugar, and of other health matters.

Indonesians, according to the Health Ministry, consumed 25.6 grams of sugar per day, slightly above the WHO’s limit, in 2018.

Surprisingly, according to Statistics Indonesia, the average per-capita consumption of sugar in all five provinces of Kalimantan is very high if compared to other provinces. The reasons for this are not known.

The shocking news about sugar in Indonesia is that we are the biggest importer of sugar in the world.

According to the International Sugar Organization, Indonesia imported 5.23 million tons of sugar in 2018 and became the number one importer in the world. China and the US are other big importers of sugar.

Indonesia consumed 6.89 million tons of sugar in 2018.

What is wrong with Indonesia?

During the 19th century, under Dutch colonial rule, Indonesia was the biggest producer of sugar in the world. Sugar is produced from sugarcane, which can grow abundantly in Indonesia, thanks to fertile land and the right climate to grow the sweet crop.

Brazil, which is a tropical country like Indonesia, has been the biggest producers of sugar in the world for many decades. Thailand has become one of the biggest exporters of sugar in Southeast Asia.

It is rather shameful that we have become a big importer of sugar. The government has to fix all the problems of the sugar industry and sugarcane farmers to restore Indonesia’s position in the global sugar industry. If necessary, the government has to provide subsidies to farmers for a certain period of time. Many countries are doing this.

Now we have an additional advantage if we produce more sugar. We can produce ethanol, which can be used in both the alcohol industry and for renewable energy. We can also use sugar in producing bioelectricity.

Coming back to sugar consumption, it is true that our brains run on glucose. But if we consume more sugar, we crave more and more, but it will not lead to addiction. 

“Consumption of sugar will not make you an addict. Maybe you want sweets and sweet drinks frequently but it is not like smoking or drug addiction,” Mery said.

Sugar is indeed a danger to our lives and health, if it is consumed in high doses.

According to a Harvard University study of 2016, a spoonful of sugar makes your lifespan go down. The study finds that consuming too many sugary drinks may increase a person’s risk of dying young.

Most sugary drinks and foods have artificial sweeteners, which are more dangerous than natural sugars.

So, stay away from all sugary foods and drinks. Check their labels always for the sugar content.

Reducing sugar consumption is a game-changer in our lifestyle.

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